Interesting facts about sour cherry

1. Not all sour cherry trees produce tasty and juicy fruits. In fact, there are many ornamental varieties that have been specifically bred to produce more flowers. Most ornamental trees are valued for their beautiful flowers, and the fruits that form afterward are very small and bitter. These fruits are tasteless and have no nutritional value (although they are a good snack for birds).

2. Their flowers are edible. For example, in Japan, sakura flowers (the collective name for 11 species and several varieties of trees of the Plum subfamily) are pickled (like we usually pickle cucumbers or tomatoes) and used to add to pastries, sweets, or in the tea.
3. Cherry trees are found all over the world. They can be found in the United States of America, South Korea, India, Brazil, Turkey, Japan, etc.
4. The name "sour cherry" is considered a common Slavic derivative from the same base as the German "Weichsel". As for its Latin name "viscum", it literally is translated as "bird glue".

5. As we said earlier, sour cherry belongs to the genus Plum. Plums and almonds also belong to this genus.
6. The average weight of fruits that cherries give varies from 5 to 7 grams (at the same time, there may be varieties whose fruits have a mass of about 10 grams). But in 2003, Italian farmer Gerardo Magipinto managed to grow a sour cherry weighing 21.69 grams in his garden, thereby setting a world record.
7. Since childhood, we know that sour cherry pits are poisonous. They are as poisonous as the pits of apricots, peaches, plums, etc. And the reason for this is the presence of cyanogenic glycosides in their composition. These are phytotoxins found in at least 2,000 plant species. Sour cherry pits also contain enough amygdalin to produce cyanide when chewed.

- Miharu Takizakura, also called Miharu Falls Cherry Tree. The tree belongs to the very rare Higan Weeping Cherry and is over 1000 years old. Miharu Takizakura grows up in a village in Miharu, Fukushima, northern Japan. About 300,000 people visit this tree every year, making it the most important source of income for the village.
- Usuzumi-zakura. This tree is over 1500 years old. It is located in Motosu City, Gifu Prefecture. There is a legend that this cherry was planted by the 26th emperor of Japan, Keitai.
- Jindai-zakura. This tree is located on the grounds of Zojo-ji Temple in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture. This tree is believed to be between 1800 and 2000 years old. According to legend, it was planted by the legendary hero-commander in Japanese mythology, the son of Emperor Keiko - Yamato Takeru.
9. Turkey is the largest sour cherry producer in the world. The second place belongs to the United States (in terms of volume it is 3 times inferior to Turkey). The ten largest producers also include Iran, Uzbekistan, Chile, Ukraine, Poland, Serbia and Italy.
10. Its fruits contain a large amount of organic acids, such as citric, malic, quinic, succinic and salicylic.

11. Sour cherry contains many macronutrients such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, microelements such as copper and iron, as well as pectin and tannins, enzymes, sugars (glucose and fructose) and vitamins B, C, A, P.
12. It is almost impossible to find pure cherry juice on the shelves of shops and supermarkets. It is almost not produced, as this drink contains a lot of acid, which causes discomfort when consumed. On the market, you can mainly find cherry nectars that are balanced in taste by mixing with sweeter juices such as apple juice, etc. to remove the high acidity of the sour cherry.
13. Currently, more than 150 types of sour cherries have been scientifically described. At the same time, only about 60 are actively cultivated.
14. Depending on the variety and age, one tree can produce from 8 to 15 kg of fruit.